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“﻿The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who ‘disappeared’. That’s what the candle is for.”Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International

AMNESTY G48

Amnesty G48 is an official chapter of Amnesty International Korea for speakers of English. Based in Seoul with over 200 members, we like to get our hands dirty demanding positive change for human rights around the world and here in Korea.

We’ve been around for over 5 years and during this time we’ve campaigned on migrant workers rights, against the death penalty, for political and social freedoms in countries where citizens continue to face government repression such as Burma and Iran, called for an end to the violence in the Occupied Territories and Israel, marched in solidarity for LGBT human rights, demanded justice for courageous survivors of sexual slavery and an end to violence against women, and much more. Human rights and dignity are constantly being undermined, but by engaging in action for positive human rights change, you will be empowering yourself as well as others. Anyone can get involved in our group at any time by attending a meeting or joining us for a street action or other event.

We meet once in month in a different location and listen to expert speakers discuss a range of topics and issues central to Amnesty International’s major campaigns and topics the group is interested in. Meetings are open and everyone is encouraged to participate in discussions in order develop a deeper understanding of the issues. If there is a particular topic you are interested in, please post comments on the blog.

For more information, please email Tom at amnestyseoul@gmail.com. If you have particular skills you’d like to share with the group such as developing this blog or helping organize events, please don’t hesitate get in touch – no experience necessary!

As the saying goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.” Well, you’re here now, and it’s time to get busy!

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

WHO WE ARE

Amnesty International is a movement of ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect individuals wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

We have over 2.2 million members worldwide, spread across 150 countries, with over 10,000 registered memebers in South Korea. That makes Amnesty International the world’s largest voluntary organisation working on human rights. Our members come from many faiths, cultures, ages and occupations.

WHAT WE WANT

We want to see a world in which every person enjoys all of the rights laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), created in 1948. This document lists the rights that everyone should have. You can find declaration in full on the United Nations website: www.un.org/

WHAT WE DO

We work in two main ways: we try to make people aware of human rights and weoppose abuses of human rights.

In particular, we oppose:

abuses that do people serious mental or physical harm (for example torture)

restrictions on freedom of conscience and expression (for example putting someone in prison for their beliefs)

discrimination (for example treating someone unfairly because of their gender, race or religion).

Amnesty’s core work is to help individuals who have been treated unfairly or who are in danger. This includes, for example, prisoners of conscience (people in prison because of their beliefs or identity), people who are being tortured or who have not had a fair trial, or human rights defenders who work in dangerous conditions.

We also work on long-term thematic campaigns. These focus on key issues that threaten human rights. Our Control Arms campaign calls on governments all over the world to put arms sales under control and to stop the flow of weapons to human rights abusers. And in March 2004 we launched a global campaign to Stop Violence Against Women-whether in war or peacetime, in the home or on the street.

Our other long-term campaigns are Business and Human Rights, Refugees and Asylum seekers, the Death Penalty and Torture.

Amnesty supporters work mainly by putting pressure on gevernments to protect people and respect their rights. They write to gevernment officials, get stories or letters into the newpapers, get their friends (or members of the public) to sign petitions. They raise money for our research and campaigns and hold awareness-raising events.